Winter Nightmares
by augustustheliar
Summary: It had always been in dreams and Natsume's starting to hate his incomprehensible subconscious. And it always leads to something more and something else.
1. Chapter 1: Dream Weaver

**CHAPTER ONE: DREAM WEAVER**

Natsume woke up sweating at four in the morning, three hours earlier than his usual wake up time. He had that dream again, the same dream he had two nights ago and a week then. He detested that dream, it didn't do him justice and it just wasn't right. He walked towards the bathroom. His legs felt weak, like it always did every time that dream came to him. He threw a handful of water to his sweating face, hoping it would calm him down. He saw his reflection in the mirror. He looked distraught, tired and out of proportion. He never noticed how tired his dream made him, if only he could stop himself. He went back to his four-poster bed and to his luck, fell asleep immediately.  
He never told anybody about his dream. Nobody would even see it coming. But every night that dream would come, he'd wake up in the middle of the night, sweating like hell with his heart racing. He felt that it was completely inappropriate. But then again, he didn't think the school shrink could help him. The dream would always come back. He didn't know what to do to escape from something that wasn't even that true.

"You okay?" asked Ruka as he and Natsume walked together towards class.  
"I'm fine," Natsume answered blankly.  
"You look really tired." Natsume's best friend always worried about him like Natsume was some dying animal that he needed to take care of.  
"I said I'm fine," he argued quite irritably.  
Ruka shrugged then tightened his midnight blue scarf to keep him warm through the winter. Natsume didn't need a scarf, just one sweater was enough. He had been warm enough to deal with cold weather.  
Ruka and Natsume reached the school building. There were so many papers stuck onto the wall, mainly to catch their attention. Ruka took one and read it out loud as the two boys walked inside:  
"The Halloween Dance," he read.  
"During Christmas? That's just stupid," Natsume commented.  
"I know, wasn't that supposed to be two months ago?"  
There was a loud eerie sound of a mic being switched on through the speaker.  
"I know what you're all thinking," said a high-pitched optimistic voice. "Why Halloween in winter? Well, I think it's a wicked idea to celebrate occassions off their season, just to add that little oomph! for our school and not our usual mundane dances! So get all your costumes and dates to work because this is going to be one heck of a trick or treat!" She laughed at the end before turning the speaker off.  
Natsume rolled his eyes in the stupidity of the idea.  
"That's new," said Ruka.  
"And stupid," Natsume added as they entered their classroom and the noise that was in it.  
Natsume could see the girls excitedly planning what to wear or who to take. The whole idea of a dance seemed so cliché and feminist. It had female written all over it. But everybody thought it was a great idea.  
"Mikan, that was a cool idea! Why didn't you tell us beforehand?" Natsume heard Anna excitedly tell Mikan.  
"It would kill the whole surprise," she told Anna.  
"When you're going to break it to the whole school at one point, there's really no surprise there," Natsume interrupted.  
Mikan flashed a happy smile and ignored his comment. She was the event planner for three consecutive years now, and in his opinion, every event she made had FEMALE or GIRLY written all over it. She sat down in front of me as the class started.

Mikan had her hair down with a black ribbon tied around her head as a headband. She had a different smile, a smile Natsume had not seen yet. She ran happily, like she was meant to be chased. So he chased, beads of sweat forming as he ran. Her auburn hair danced like a blanket through the wind.  
"Stop running!" he shouted. But she did not stop running. She avoided trees, except that one branch caught her black ribbon. Natsume stopped and took the ribbon, twirled it around his hands. She had stopped running. Oddly, the ribbon was still on her head. Natsume, surprised, looked at his hand and found the black ribbon still tied around his palm.  
"Kiss me, Natsume," Mikan whispered. And though it was a whisper, it was extremely audible.  
Natsume's heart skipped a beat in shock and surprise. He stood frozen on the grass as Mikan walked towards him. Suddenly, the background distorted into some toy store, but Mikan did not stop walking, although Natsume had been frozen in his stance, Mikan never reached him. It was like waiting for the world to end, it would never come.  
Natsume woke up, still sweating from the same dream that had been haunting him for some time now. This time, he decided to see the school shrink.  
"Hello, Natsume," Dr. Sayuki greeted when the boy entered her office early Saturday morning.  
"I need to figure out why my senseless dream keeps on haunting me," said Natsume monotonously.  
"Take a seat." The doctor gestured towards the empty couch in the middle of her office.  
Dr. Saiyuki knew Natsume well enough to see him every other month, as a result of teenage delinquency. But never did he come by his own will, except today, which seemed odd to her but in any case, she welcomed the boy to her office.  
Natsume sat down and waited for Dr. Saiyuki to sit on an empty chair next to the couch. He had spent a good fifteen minutes re-telling his recurring nightmares to the psychologist in pure detail. He really wanted to be helped so the dreams would finally stop haunting him.  
"Dreams are the result of our subconscious thoughts. Those thoughts are the ones you either, kept it back there to forget or ignore, or ones you don't even know exist," the doctor deduced after a moment of silence.  
Natsume narrowed his dark eyes. "What are you trying to say?"  
Dr. Saiyuki sighed. "How do you feel about the girl in your dream?"  
That was one thing he kept to himself. Natsume thought for a moment.  
"I don't feel anything for her," he answered.  
"Do you have any theories on why she keeps on, I quote, haunting you?"  
"I thought you'd answer that."  
There had been a brief moment of silence until the shrink spoke.  
"You could try and face her," she said.  
"For what?"  
"It's either there is something in her that keeps haunting you or you feel something. One way to find out why she keeps haunting you is to face her, and the dreams might just stop," she replied patiently.  
Natsume considered the option as he walked away from the 45-minute long session from Dr. Sayuki. As he walked, he thought of Mikan. She had him like no one else did. He knew well enough how he felt towards her, he just did not want to admit it to anyone. It's not because he wasn't ready, he just didn't want to.  
It was a slow walk towards his refuge, the forest. Even if he liked Mikan, the dreams were still what he called nightmare. Everytime he woke up, he felt tired and found it hard to sleep again. But if it was any consolation, Mikan looked her best in his dreams. He sat down on the snow-covered grass in silence. He knew how he felt but he knew it would not stop the dreams from coming.  
He conjured a small flame from his palm to take his mind off of things, and just played with it. For someone with an alice like he does, playing with fire was never an issue.  
Behind the complete silence that he took, a soft voice could be heard.  
"He loves me, he loves me not," she whispered so soft it was barely audible in the silence. "He loves me, he loves me not." A short pause. "He loves me."  
Natsume put out his fire. He knew that voice but did not bother to do anything about it. She was not bothering him anyway. A soft shuffle of snow to cloth and Mikan showed up from behind a fully grown cherry blossom tree.  
"Oh, you're here," she said, walking towards him. Natsume still sat and didn't say anything. What was there to say anyway? Except that a figment of his recurring dreams flashed in his mind. The black ribbon, she was wearing it.  
"You're wearing a black ribbon," he said in a sort of a whisper, that made it seem he was talking to himself.  
Mikan, as if she could see it, looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I thought it was a new thing I'd try. How does it look?"  
It was so peculiar, for Natsume at least. He had never really seen her wear the black ribbon except in his dreams. It seemed impossible to happen but it did. He suddenly thought of the Kiss-Me part and his heart jumped. He could not exactly tell what he felt, he just knew he did not want that to happen.  
"Natsume?" Mikan called out.  
He looked up and saw Mikan still standing in front of him, a checkered black and white coat wrapped around her.  
"You should--wear something else, that looks hideous," he said. He could not think of anything else to say just to make it seem like he was himself.  
She pouted (and Natsume just wanted to tell her to stop). "That's not a very nice thing to say."  
"Then wear something else so I can tolerate taking a look at you."  
Mikan gaped. "You look worse than I do, you don't even wear a sweater in this weather!"  
"What difference does that make?"  
"Stripes are out of season."  
Natsume chuckled and brushed a hand through his disheveled midnight hair. "You're wearing a striped shirt, idiot."  
Mikan looked down, surprised that she found herself wearing stripes. She fell silent for a moment.  
"Well, at--at least mine looks better," she told him.  
This was starting to run him out. He stood up and decided to just leave Mikan to herself. Shrink advice, done.

Mikan was crying softly, sitting next to Natsume. Her tears ran down her apple cheeks continuously. She was more beautiful when she cried, Natsume thought.  
"I just--I just wish--wish I could," she sniffed as she looked at him. Her tiny face grew nearer in Natsume's view. Nearer, and nearer. This time, the kiss happened. It felt wet but tasted of strawberry chapstick.  
Natsume woke up, again, sweating all over his body. He looked at the off white ceiling he had. He didn't want to visit the shrink again, he thought it becoming too personal even though he had only seen her once. He's not going back. He just decided to take a good cold bath to take away the dreams and the sweat.  
The bath just took away the sweat, the dream was still stuck in his mind. Almost every detail was still there, even the feel of the kiss.


	2. Chapter 2: Secret Smiles

**CHAPTER TWO: SECRET SMILES**

It was too delusional, Natsume thought at the sight of girls a week before the dance. Even at lunch, some were hand-sewing just to finish their dresses. Natsume wondered if most of them would dress up as princess. He supposed that that was a delusional dream of every female.  
"I was thinking of dressing up as a vampire," Ruka stated. He, also, was watching the female students devote their time to this dance.  
"Edward Cullen, huh?" Mochu proposed.  
Natsume was (hiddenly) surprised that Mochu actually knew Twilight.  
"Not entirely, the perfect part, yeah," Ruka joked with a smile. Natsume knew well enough that he has, more or less, half of the female population so perfect could fit him. In the next fifteen minutes, all his friends could only talk about the Halloween dance like girls who were much too excited. He didn't bother adding up to the silly bandwagon that the dance was.  
"Are you coming?" Koko asked him. It took him awhile before he answered, not because he thought of it, but because his attention was short and somewhere else.  
"I'm not," he replied simply. The boys expected it but every single time, they tried persuading him.  
"You're 18, man, at least try," Mochu told him as he swallowed his mashed potatoes.  
"Yeah, what have you got to lose, right?" Ruka added with a smile.  
"You know that won't convince me," said Natsume with a deadpan expression stuck to his handsome features.  
His friends' expressions slouched. Even if they were disappointed, he didn't think it would change his mind. Dances are like week-old pasta, it's not something everyone would enjoy. As the years go by, the idea gets old and overused. It has always been the same old thing and everything happens all over again.  
"Mikan would be there," said Koko, out of the blue. Every single person on the table fell silent at the statement made, every single person on the table heard the words clearly. Still, no one talked, no one dared to break the silence. Natsume knew it was his turn to talk. "So?" It was all that he could say. Retaliation had not been his forte lately especially when he needed it.  
"I don't know." Koko shrugged. At 17, Natsume knew Koko was no longer intimidated by him. "That's all I could read in your mind."  
All eyes were in Natsume's face. He didn't talk, he lost any word that could oppose Koko. Everybody knew that Koko won't lie about things or subjects that were as simple as Mikan. Every time he used his mind-reading ability on Natsume, he thought that it was something to help Natsume just so he'd admit the truth.  
"You were thinking about her?" Mochu broke out, nearly in laughter. Ruka didn't talk and Koko merely smiled, proud of his own talent.  
Natsume grunted in hopes that Mochu would see it as a disagreement. But nstead, Mochu laughed hard and mockingly.  
"Look, if you want to ask Mikan, just do it," said Koko. "I'm fifty percent sure she'd say yes."  
"And fifty, no," added Ruka.  
"You were never a positive person, Ruka," Koko told him.  
"Shut up," Natsume finally said. "If I want, I would. Everybody knows how easy to sway she is. But I don't, so I won't."  
"Then why were you thinking about her?" asked Mochu. A part of Natsume could not believe how much his friends were into gossiping.  
"I just couldn't believe how ugly she looked today."  
Because of the silence, he knew nobody believed him.  
"Since when did you care?" asked Ruka, breaking the brief silence.  
"I don't," said Natsume. And with that, his friends roared with laughter. The fear they had of him when they were young have disappeared.  
"Hey guys." With Mikan's voice behind Natsume, the other boys stopped in silence, their eyes fell onto Natsume. Mikan, as dense as she was, didn't notice a thing and squeezed herself to sit between Koko and Natsume. "The dance is next week. Have you guys thought of who to take?"  
Nobody answered but every one of the boys had that smile that told so much.  
"Obviously, I'm taking Sumire," said Mochu.  
"I think Nonoko wants to ask me," Koko bragged with a smile. Ruka didn't talk. No one expected Natsume to either, but he knew Ruka well to know who he'd want to take.  
"What about you?" Mikan asked Ruka.  
"I haven't really thought of it yet," he replied.  
Ruka's delusional secret romance started two years ago, with black mail and sadism. It had been with Snow White, that's what everyone called her as they grew older. It started with a video, high definition, high quality video of Ruka merely showing weakness over a rabbit he had found in the forest. Ruka held his reputation tough, it was that important to him. The black mail lasted a month and through that cut-throat chase, he found himself giving in in Snow White, just her.  
"Hotaru and Anna are dateless," Mikan told him as she tied her hair with the same haunting black ribbon.  
"No, Kitsuneme's going to ask..," Koko held his sentence astray for Ruka's suspense. Ruka looked constipated or somewhat close to that, like he was holding his breath. "Anna."  
"Oh, then Hotaru is still dateless," Mikan provided with the sweetest smile.  
"Is it necessary to have a date?" asked Ruka.  
"Well, there's a red carpet walkway, it's lonely without a date. Come on, Ruka, I don't want Hotaru to be alone and I KNOW she won't ask anybody else."  
"What about you though?"  
"Oh, I'm the event planner, I really don't need a date."  
"But you want one?"  
"It's alright."  
Ruka's eyes narrowed in mischief and smiled. "I'll take her if _you_ take Natsume."  
With that, Koko's grape juice spilled from his closed mouth, showering the table with juice and saliva. Mikan's eyes widen with surprise. Ruka smiled victoriously. Mochu laughed. And Natsume retained a deadpan expression and had his thoughts everywhere.


	3. Chapter 3: Full of Ideas

**CHAPTER THREE: FULL OF IDEAS**

Mikan found Natsume lying on a bench alone under the afternoon sun, white earphones stuck on both his ears for attention block. She was fifteen and her heart was beating faster than its usual pace. She had become one of those girls who are interested in Natsume's mystery and features. But she thought she was interested in him with past those reasons, past his tough exterior and I-hate-everything attitude. She thought that there was something much more than that, a weakness she was willing to take on. She wanted to take care of him.  
"Dr. Saiyuki wants to see you," she told Natsume after taking off one earphone from his ear.  
Touching him sent shivers down her spine but despite what she felt for him, she had a certain fear for him. She knew what he was capable of when he's aggravated.  
Natsume lazily stood up without a word, his ruby eyes cold and dead, and walked away from Mikan's stoic figure. She sat down the bench where he laid and watched her handsome muse walk away from her. He was so close yet so far for Mikan.  
"What?!" Mikan gaped at Ruka's suggestion.  
"Take him, I'll take your sadistic friend," he rephrased with a smile. Mikan didn't know how devious Ruka could be, not that he knew she liked Natsume.  
"Why me?" she asked. She wanted it but also half scared of having the worst dance in Alice Academy.  
"I think it's a GREAT idea. Right, Koko?" Mochu said, referring to the dirty blonde boy next to Mikan.  
Koko smiled. "Best idea."  
When has taking Natsume to the dance the best idea? thought Mikan.  
"Can I just think about it first and talk it over with Hotaru?" she asked with a nervous smile as she stood up to leave the table.  
"Should you even?" asked Mochu with a smile before he laughed.  
Mikan didn't like how this seemed a joke to the boys. There was a secret smile in Natsume's friends' faces, except Natsume himself. Mikan couldn't understand how it was funny and how Koko could even manage to smile. Koko doesn't smile when he's clueless to what a person is thinking, which only happens towards Mikan, and which Mikan is extremely thankful for.  
Natsume, on the other hand, held a blank expression, like he didn't really care. Mikan didn't expect him to, anyway.  
"Yes, I think I should. Later," she said, waving goodbye to her friends, who were holding their laughs, obviously.

A huge red ball hit Mikan squarely on the head with a loud thug.  
"WHAT?!" she shouted, rubbing her head furiously with her right hand. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO! THAT HURT!"  
"Yeah, I had to. I don't need a date," Hotaru said as she took the ball and deflated it. Her monotonous voice was perfect for the extremely cold weather.  
"You do," argued Mikan. "The red carpet gets lonely."  
"Then take it out."  
"I can't, it's too late."  
A short pause came between them.  
"What did Ruka say?" asked Hotaru. Her blank expression didn't give her away.  
Mikan smiled brightly. "He said he'd take you if I take Natsume."  
Hotaru stood up from their dinner table, ready to leave.  
"Where are you going?" asked Mikan.  
"To my lab," her best friend answered simply.  
Mikan stood up, took a good look at her empty plate and followed her best friend leave.  
"You know what, you and Natsume are sort of the same, maybe you guys should be dates," she told Hotaru. Her best friend didn't talk or say anything to disapprove Mikan's suggestion.  
"I'll take that as a yes!" Mikan ran away from Hotaru, seemingly excited that she thought of the best idea to escape from the Black Cat. She thought that it would have been nice to date Natsume, if he was a little like other boys, saner and manageable.  
She found Natsume and Ruka leaving the cafeteria hall, she ran towards the boys to catch up on them.  
"Hey, Ruka! I've reconsidered your suggestion!"  
Both boys stopped walking and looked behind them to see Mikan.  
"I think I should take you," she told Ruka with a smile.  
"Me?" Ruka pointed to his chest.  
Mikan nodded, smiling relentlessly. Ruka glanced at Natsume, who was looking somewhere else. Ruka looked unsure of what to say.  
"I--I guess that's fine," he decided after a moment of thought. "What about Hotaru though?"  
"I was thinking you'd take her." Mikan poked Natsume's arm to get his attention.  
"Natsume and Hotaru?" Ruka tried to clear out.  
Mikan nodded, still smiling.  
"So what do you guys think?" she asked both glanced at Natsume for approval or something of that sort. Mikan's heart was beating fast, like every single time she faced Natsume.  
"Whatever," he finally said, continuing their walk to the dormitories.  
Mikan was left standing outside the noisy cafeteria hall, feeling a little disappointed that her muse had become less her date than before. It was not out of fear, she guessed, but if something seemed not right, she knew enough not to go for it. There was that impending feeling of voices telling her not to go all the way. She smiled, trying to feel satisfied of the idea she came up with.


	4. Chapter 4: Breathe

**CHAPTER FOUR: BREATHE**

Two knocks and the door was opened, Ruka stood, handsome, pale, blonde with fake fangs.  
Mikan smiled. "Wow, you look pretty good."  
"You, too. A doll looks best in you," said Ruka, with his signature smile that could take books pages to tell. "Let's go?"  
Mikan smiled and closed her door shut to walk with Ruka to the gym.  
"Was Natsume okay with Hotaru?" Mikan asked as they walked under the night sky.  
"He didn't really say anything," Ruka replied simply.  
In whole honesty, Mikan wished Natsume did reject the suggestion. Now that she thought about it, she wished he wouldn't look so good that night.  
"Oh, that's right. Natsume never really cared."  
Ruka chuckled. "You know there's more to him than that."  
Ruka was right, Mikan had always know that.  
"Was this really okay though, for you?" she asked him. Although Mikan had been called dense, the pause Ruka took told her enough. Before he opened his mouth to talk, Mikan interrupted him. "I know, you preferred Hotaru."  
Ruka's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "No! What made you think that?"  
Mikan shrugged. "I don't know. There was a pause. Do you like her?"  
Another moment of silence came, Mikan could only hear their footsteps and the occassional rustling of leaves.  
"I do, I don't, I don't really know," Ruka finally spoke. "I mean, she seems dead sometimes."  
Mikan laughed. "So is Natsume but you're friends with him."  
Ruka considered this and smiled as they walked the red carpet along with other couples.  
Mikan saw the layout of the whole gym and smile satisfactoriously. The title, "Nightmare Before Christmas" justified the theme of the dance and the satisfaction that Mikan felt was more than what she could contain.=0A"This is great, Mikan," her date said, oggling the layout with his silvery blue eyes.  
"Thanks, Ruka," she said as they sat down an empty round table dressed in black with a pumpkin snowflake centerpiece.  
Hotaru walked in alone, dressed in, a shocking, Minnie Mouse. Mikan gaped in shock and pure happiness.  
"You look so cute!" She couldn't wait to say it so she did the minute Hotaru reached the table. Ruka, on the other hand, looked astounded and flushed. "That's not dead, is it?" she told him with a smile. But the smile easily faded when she noticed Natsume was nowhere to be found.  
"Where's Natsume?" she asked Hotaru.  
"I decided not to go with him," answered Hotaru simply.  
At that statement, Mikan wondered whether it would have been better if she stuck with the first suggestion.

Natsume stood near his window, watching couples walk towards the gym. The sun was sinking to temporary oblivion as the dance was starting. He didn't exactly feel the need to go to the dance, he wasn't envious either, it's not like he wasn't allowed to go. He waited in silence, still standing beneath the glass windows. After a few seconds, there they were. He knew it was them even from above, he just couldn't what her costume was. They were talking, it was obvious, she was even laughing. He felt some sort of envy at that part of the dance. He could have been there, walking with her, but she chose not to. Natsume sat on his bed in thought. He had that reputation of being wanted by almost every female student and rejecting every single one of them in the process, but ironically, he doesn't have the person he wants. But it's not like he tried anything, that was the whole point. There was nothing moving between them.  
He sat frozen in thought for a few minutes before he stood up and took his coat to leave.  
"I wanted her to have a date!" Mikan stood, perfect timing, in front of Natsume's doorway when he opened the door to leave.  
He cracked the smallest smile at the sight of the Tangerine girl dressed as a doll. Two black ribbons were tied to her pigtails, Natsume's heart skipped at the memory. The costume fit her perfectly, although, to Natsume, the dress could have been longer.  
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "Turn around and bend over."  
Seemingly stupid as she was, she did as she was told and as Natsume expected it, her underwear could be seen.  
"Polka-dots," he said, walking past her. He could guess what Mikan's face contorted to. Gaping mouth and close to shouting.  
"PERVERT!" she screamed loud enough for everyone to hear if the building was not empty.  
"You're stupid enough to bend over," said Natsume in his defense.  
Mikan stormed towards him and let go of the subject.  
"Why didn't you take her?" she asked as she walked next to him.  
"She didn't want a date, you should have known that."  
"I know but I didn't want her to be alone."  
"In the red carpet. You're the only idiot who thinks it's that important," said Natsume blankly.  
He heard her sigh. She had an issue, he knew that. He could tell from how she said things. She sighed again.  
"What's wrong now?" he asked, feignly exasperated.  
"Nothing. Did you know Ruka liked Hotaru?" She changed the subject.  
"You're spilling other people's secrets now?"  
Her thin eyebrows curled and her shiny pink lips pouted. Natsume looked at her, he asked for two more seconds.  
"I thought you knew," she broke the short unseemingly wonderful silence.  
Natsume didn't talk still. His thoughts were astray and like those other few times, he felt overwhelmed by her appearance.  
"I like them together," she said, walking next to Natsume still.  
"Then why did you just leave them as dates?"  
It was her, who stayed silent this time. She ran out of answers and words. Natsume expected that.  
"I don't know," she finally replied. "Where are you going, by the way?"  
"I don't know," Natsume replied back.  
They walked in silence, Mikan following wherever Natsume went.  
He woke up, suddenly. The night came already and he was sweating again. The dreams came back again after a week of not having them. His pulse and respiration were fast the minute he woke up. Frustration filled up his chest as he stood up. The dreams felt so real but he didn't know whether he liked it or not. He took a shower again, to let the sweat, dreams and desire be washed away by the water.  
As he took a bath, her face, costume, words swept across his memory.  
"Damn it," he cursed to no one in particular. He hated those dreams, he hated that she reached his subconscious level. He didn't understand it, not in the least. He knew it won't stop until he understood.  
He got out of the bathroom and welcomed a scream. Mikan stood with the exact costume he dreamt of her. It was freaky, he thought.  
"Who said you could come in?" he asked, drying his hair with a towel.  
Mikan turned around. "Would you please dress up?"  
"I'm not completely naked, idiot. Besides, you entered without permission," Natsume shot back, tightening his towel on his waist.  
Mikan stomped on the wooden floor twice. "I left Ruka with Hotaru."  
"What does that have to do with me?" asked Natsume as he dressed up.  
"Then I lost a date."  
"Then you shouldn't have left Ruka."  
"He likes Hotaru, didn't you know that?" she said as-a-matter-of-factly.  
"That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here," Natsume brought back. As he dressed up, he stared at Mikan's back. From her long auburn hair to her dotted baby doll dress to her striped socks and her black shoes. There was that impending feeling again.  
"I needed a date," she replied in almost a whisper.  
Natsume smiled on the inside, his ego and confidence shot back to him. Of all the people to ask, she wanted him?  
He walked slowly and silently towards his, literally speaking, dream girl.  
"Why me?" he whispered three centimeters to her bare neck. Mikan froze and Natsume knew she was holding her breath.


End file.
